Friday, August 31, 2012

Playing Grandma

Yesterday I was able to play Grandma - for once. I went to the school where my two youngest grandsons attend for Grandparents' Day. I visited the younger one's classroom and was interviewed by him about my days in Grade 3, which he obviously found largely very boring. What did interest him was when I told how we used to call in at the local bakery on the way home from school, go down the side driveway to the back of the shop to where the kitchens were. We used to stand around the open door to see the fruit buns taken out of the oven by the baker and were often given hot fresh buns to eat on the way home. My g-son's eyes lit up. 'Free?' he asked. 'Yes', I said. So that went down on the interview sheet. That is one delight that just isn't available to kids these days. What would OHS say about an open kitchen door where the neighbourhood kids could stand and watch? Then I visited the older G-son's classroom and told them about the school toilets that were smelly, no sewerage or septic sewerage, and far away from the classrooms. I reasoned that kids love toilet jokes. Then younger G-son gave me a tour of the building and the grounds. The building is new, with classrooms around a central open area, lots of colour and light, books freely available, laptops stored handy, a kitchen area and toilets handy. This set up isn't new, really. Many of the very old schools had a central hall for assemblies with classrooms off the hall. But they weren't full of light, carpeted and well equipped. In the school grounds G-son and I played 'hookey' on a big board that hangs on the wall - and I impressed him by getting my first three thrown on the hooks. Sheer fluke! We visited the garden, the greenhouse and the chooks. A lovely little school. Younger G-son is partly home-schooled as there are learning difficulties and he doesn't work well in groups. So, after the visit, I went with him, his mum and other grandmother to have lunch in the sunshine at the local gardens. My G-son is obviously being well taught by the combination of the school and his mum. How fortunate to have a school that will be so flexible as to co-operate with a learning plan that allows him to learn at his pace and in an environment that suits his needs. It's good to be able to play Grandma sometimes

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